Four Below, One Above
by Wolferunner123
Summary: Mikado woke up with a throbbing head and no idea where he was or how he got there. But what in the world are these four cards? Inspired by Warfang's Dreams and Dragons
1. Of Cards, DOLLARS, and Lights

Mikado moaned as he opened his eyes. He couldn't remember how he got to where he was, but he was there now. His head hurt and his brain was feeling funny. He looked around, slowly sitting up so as not to upset his already aching head. He put a hand to the left side of his head and tried to massage away the pickaxes attacking his temple.

"I guess that's why I can't seem to think right," Mikado murmured. "But where in the world am I?"

He was in a dark space, most likely a room with no windows, and the only light was coming from below him. Hold on, below him? He looked down to see what exactly he was standing on. It was a black, shiny floor, they type of floor that caught what ever light was in the room and threw it around to light up the rest of the area. The pale blue light was shining out of a stenciled design on the floor, which consisted of a large circle and a smaller circle, with a pattern of dots in the smaller one. They seemed to spell something, but he couldn't tell. It was hard to read when he was sitting on top of the dots, after all, he wasn't transparent. And his head hurt. After some consideration, something that would have gone by faster if his head didn't hurt so much, he came to the conclusion that it would be a good idea to get off the glowing pattern and try to find a way out. Hopefully something would light up and he would be able to find his way out.

Strangely enough, when he left the outer circle, four bright lights, each in a different color came on from the floor. They were all in a line about three or four feet apart, and each lit up a column, which Mikado thought were about three feet tall but he wasn't really sure. He stumbled over, clutching his head, toward the yellow one, all the way on the right first. It held two objects on its surface. The first was a yellow scarf of some sort or a bandana. Lying on top of the scarf/bandana thing was a joker depicting a boy with smiling, yellow eyes, yellow hair, and seemed to be holding a crow bar. He was wearing the scarf/bandana thing around his neck which made a strange picture with his white hoodie and jeans. Mikado sighed, wishing he could remember why this person looked so familiar and why he seemed to be smiling up at him and moved on to the next column.

This one was lit up by a red light and held a type of knife, a flick knife if Mikado was correct and another joker card. But this one had a boy with a strange smile, black hair, and was holding the same knife that was on the pedestal. His red eyes peered out at Mikado from a fuzz lined black hoodie which matched his black pants. This one was also familiar but gave Mikado a odd feeling, like it could somehow see him. He turned around and grabbed the first card to compare it with this new one.

Clutching the two cards in his hand, Mikado staggered the four feet to the next in the series expecting something similar. He was not disappointed. This particular stand had a pair of black sunglasses that caught the white light quite well and the ever-present card. This one was blonde like the first with brown eyes, but he was wearing the sunglasses and a bartender suit of all things. He was also smoking, Mikado noted with a frown, gazing down at the man who had a peculiar look on his face. He looked like he was frowning or upset, but even though Mikado could swear he had never met him or any of the others before, he was familiar. If only he could remember why!

By then, Mikado's head was feeling better and he was able to walk over to the final stand without wobbling, holding all three cards. This one had a dark blue light illuminating the pile of bandages and the card resting on top of the pile. Reaching for the card, Mikado noted that the bandages were bloody, which for some reason didn't surprise him. This card showed a boy with dark black hair, blue eyes and a wrapped up hand. He was wearing a blue shirt and dark pants, but had a light grey jacket. This one seemed to be smirking at him, almost as if he knew something Mikado didn't.

Mikado was really confused now. He walked back over to the glowing design, noting that it said DOLLARS, and sat back down. Looking at all four cards, he saw that they all had the same back and border. Maybe they were a set? No soon than when Mikado had sat down, another light came on. This one was directly opposite of the four previous ones and was glowing a pale blue, the same color of the DOLLARS sign and the circles. Another difference was that this column was four feet tall and was black instead of white like the others. Shoving the cards into his pocket, Mikado made his way over to the pillar to see what was on it.

Resting on the surface were three objects. There was a blue ballpoint pen, a red, white and black cell phone and a golden choker nechlace and armband. The necklace had a matching chain that connected it to the armband, which was a plain golden band of metal, about two inches wide and just big enough to slip over one of his wrists. When Mikado flipped the cell phone open, it had the same background as the main design on the floor. Strange. Grabbing the two other items, Mikado walked back to the DOLLARS sign and sat down once more.

Laying down the four cards and playing with the necklace, the phone and the pen, Mikado began to wonder what in the world was he doing here! He seemed to be all alone and it was starting to creep him out.

"Hello? Is anybody there?" Mikado called out, wishing he had though to do this first. His own voice echoed back to him, tauntingly. "Please, if someone can hear me, please answer!" In response, the cell phone beeped.

"Ahh!" quickly looking around to make sure nobody saw him squeak, Mikado flipped open the phone and read the text message that was sent.

_Hello Mikado-sama!_

_We are very sorry about all the confusion, but would you please go back to the Center, place the necklace around your neck, put the armband on your arm and toss the cards in the air? Thanks!_

_~Soldier_

Now Mikado was really confused. Who in the hell was Soldier? But Mikado was not one to disobey rules set by unknown personnel who knew his name and managed to knock him out. With a weary glace around one last time to check for any changes, Mikado walked over to the DOLLARS sign, clasped the golden band around his neck, placed the band around his right wrist and threw all four cards in the air.


	2. Of Soldier, Websites, and Vans

Nothing happened.

Mikado had thrown the cards in the air and nothing happened. Giving an annoyed huff, he reached down to pick up the cards and placed them in his pocket. Then the phone beeped again. Mikado didn't gasp this time, but instead glared at it and flipped it open.

_Hello again!_

_I can't believe that you actually did that! I was wondering if you would really do something as silly as that, but you did! But don't be too mad at me, k? Now really, go grab the stuff you left on the pillars, pick up the bag and go out the door. Follow the arrows and you'll be fine, k?_

_~Soldier_

Mikado gaped at the phone in disbelief. This… person was making fun of him! That's just not right! Grumbling to himself, Mikado made his way across the floor to the pillars and grabbed the scarf, knife, sunglasses and bandages. As soon as the bandages left their pillar, another light lit up, the same color as the center stencil. But all that it illuminated was a black messenger bag. Mikado picked it up and put the four items inside the bag along side another phone, which was blue, a wallet, a keychain that held only a single key, and a piece of paper. Pulling the paper out, Mikado saw that it had two addresses, a website and its access password, two website logins and two passwords, presumably for the website. They seemed to be for two different accounts, the only thing differentiating them was the small a under the first login and password set.

All of a sudden, a sliding noise jolted Mikado out of his examination. Gasping, he turned around to see a door glide open. Mikado grabbed the bag and poked his head out the door. Seeing nothing but black, he stepped out from the room and as soon as his foot pass through the doorway, it slid shut. Panicking, Mikado turned and tried to force the door to open. It remained stubbornly shut, resisting all efforts made to open it. But, thank god, a blue arrow lit up pointing away from the door. Within a couple of seconds, several more appeared, every one about ten or so feet apart. Some faced forward while the last one pointed left. Once again, the phone beeped.

_Mikado-sama!_

_Please follow the arrows out of here! When you get out, wait for my next message, k?_

_~Soldier_

That was it. Mikado officially hated this person. Absolutely, irrevocably despised this infuriating and aggravating individual. If he ever met Soldier, he would not be held responsible for what he would do. Grumbling, Mikado followed the arrows, twisting and turning until he didn't know which was which. To top it all off, once Mikado passed an arrow, it went out, leaving him no other choice but to continue. It was driving him crazy; he blamed Soldier.

"You know what?" he asked himself. "From now on, if anything goes wrong, I'm blaming Soldier. For anything and everything. Even if it rains, it's his fault" Before Mikado could continue, his phone beeped. Again.

_Mikado-sama!_

_That's not nice! And here I am helping you. Please don't be so mean! _

_~Soldier_

Now Mikado was going to be paranoid. For the rest of his life, he would not be able to get rid of the feeling of being watched. During the time he spent thinking over the whole paranoia issue, Mikado had arrived at another door. This too slid open to show the outside world in all its glory. The light hurt his eyes after being in the dark for so long. Blinking, he stepped outside and the door slid shut behind him. He came out of a small grey door that matched with the side of the abandoned building. Mikado looked out and saw a parking lot that had no cars in it.

"I guess this is the end. I wonder what I'm supposed to do now." Mikado's question was answered with another phone beep.

_Mikado-sama,_

_Please follow these instructions carefully! Please log into the website with the first set, the one with the a. Then please repeat what I say, k? "Pick up at first address, Tanaka Taro, boy, around 16, with black hair and blue eyes wearing a white and green jacket. Please get him to the second address" Then put in the two addresses. The wait should only be about 15 minutes! I'll text you when you get there!_

_~Soldier_

"What?" Now Mikado was confused. But even if this was a prank, he had no choice. Picking up his new phone, the red one, not the blue one, he logged into the website using the first login name available. It signed him in as admin which was strange. Why would Soldier give him the admin login? And what in the world was DOLLARS? But he persisted and typed out the message with the proper addresses and instructions.

"And send." Mikado murmured under his breath, wondering if anyone was going to pick him up. It was a strange concept that a random person would pick him up, just because an admin left a message. He sat down, musing.

His thinking was interrupted by the sound of a vehicle coming to a stop. Surprised, Mikado looked up to see a grey van pull over on the opposite side of the parking lot. A man with straight brown hair and dark eyes poked his head out and called over to Mikado.

"Hey! Are you Tanaka Taro-san?" Mikado stared at the man in abject fascination and horror. Did this person really drive over here because of a post left on a website? Realizing that he had been staring, he nodded.

"Well, then get in already." Another voice this time, but it sounded annoyed. Mikado peered around the brown haired man to see another man who was wearing a black bandana and a blue jacket. Mikado nodded again, not trusting his voice.

"My name is Kyohei Kadota, and this is Saburo Togusa." The man with the bandana spoke, motioning to the driver as he said the second name.

The rest of the ride was quiet. The two men up front spent the time talking about two other people, a Walker and an Erika, who were at some book store getting more books. They both had a resigned look on their faces, as if something bad was going to happen.

"HELLO! Please let us in!" When the two upfront heard the demand, they winced. Mikado could hear the smiley face added at the end of the exclamation as well. But before he could ask a question, the door of the van slid open and two people jumped in. They looked at him with big, wide eyes.

"Hey! Who are you?" The two stared at him. The girl in the black hat and dress turned around to ask Kadota-san a question. "Hey Dotachin! Who's the kid in the back seat?"

"Yeah! Is it Tuesday already?" The blonde man in the light blue jacket laughed along side the lady. Apparently it was a joke of some sort since the two upfront groaned and Kadota-san face palmed.

"The one in blue is Walker Yumasaki and the lady in black is Erika Karisawa. Ignore them."

"Nice to meet you!" Karisawa-san and Yumasaki-san sang. Mikado just stared. These people were weird. Really weird.

"Hello." Mikado said. He just hoped that he could get away from all of these people soon. He needed to figure out who the people on the cards were and who the hell Soldier is and where in the world is he now. But thinking of that topic.

"Excuse me," he said quietly, but it still got Karisawa-san and Yumasaki-san's attention. "Could you please tell me what city we are in? And do you know these people?" He held out two of the four cards, which he had dug out of his pocket. Karisawa-san grabbed them with an excited look on her face.

"This one," she said, holding up the card with the blonde man in the bartender suit. "Is Shizou Heiwajima. And this one," She held up the one with the man in the black fuzzy jacket. "Is Izaya Orihara. Where did you get these made? They're really well done! Is it possible to order some and can you get them custom made?"

"I-I was given them." Mikado stuttered. Who was she and what did she want? What was with all the questions?

"Leave him alone Erika. You too Walker."

"Fine Dotachin. But only cuz you asked nicely!"

"Thank you Kadota-san." The rest of the ride was spent in silence, if you didn't count the two newcomers whispering and gesturing about a new manga that had come out a few days ago.


	3. Of Computers, Questions, and Conscripts

"Thank you again for dropping me off." Mikado bowed to the four people in the grey van. They had dropped him right outside a rather rundown apartment building in another section of Ikebukaro.

"It was no trouble." Kadota-san was really nice, even though he did not talk much. The van got ready to leave. Mikado patted his pocket nervously, double checking that he had all four cards. Karisawa-san seemed determined to keep a hold of them. Kadota-san had to make her give them back. He really was nice.

"Goodbye!" Mikado waved as the van drove off, Karisawa-san and Yumasaki-san's voices calling back to him.

"Goodbye! Ah! No! Wait! Dotachin, you never told us his name! Go Baaaaaack! We wanna talk with him!"

Mikado giggled at their fading voices. Those people were weird, but fun. He would bet that a life with them in it would never be boring. One of those beeps startled him. Those godforsaken beeps would haunt Mikado's nightmares, he was certain. They foretold doom, despair, and a really annoying creature. He refused to believe that Soldier was a person. Soldier was too annoying to be a person, he or it had to be a being put on Earth for the sole purpose of annoying and making him paranoid. Sighing, he flipped open his red phone to see what Soldier wanted now.

_Mikado-sama!_

_I'm so happy you arrived safely! Walker and Erika sure are funny! ;) Anyway, Go find the apartment that matches your key. It's yours! You should start up the computer when you get in. It has some important stuff for you!_

_~Soldier_

Mikado sighed for what felt like the nth time today. He really hated Soldier. Shaking his head, he walked up the stairs to the apartment door that matched the key that had been in the bag. He slid the key in, half expecting the key to not fit or not work, but it did and Mikado got in easily enough.

The apartment was impersonal. Clean. Empty. He wandered around the apartment, getting a feel for the size and layout. But Mikado paused at the desk. He sat down and leaned the bag against the leg of the desk. That's when he noticed. The cards in his pocket were… _tingly_.

With a confused look upon his face, Mikado pulled them out. The two that Karisawa-san identified for him, Izaya Orihara and Shizou Heiwajima, were different. The two of them had changed positions and the backs were different colors. The borders were now yellow keep out tape. Heiwajima-san was smoking and standing with his hands in his pocket and his card had a grey background now and there was a street sign of all things on a diagonal behind him. The back had been changed to a black and white color scheme with a large circle that had his name written in blue.

Orihara-san's card showed him smirking and holding his knife in front of his face. The background was red with a Chinese chess board with Othello, Chess and Shogi pieces. The back was black and red with another circle with his name in blue as well.

But when Mikado pulled out the two unnamed ones they were the same. Nothing had changed. He thought about it for a while before coming to the conclusion that the cards changed when he found out two of the names and the other two didn't change because he didn't know their names. But still, he glanced at Orihara-san and Heiwajima-san's cards and shivered. Their eyes seemed to follow him, not in a malicious way but watchful. It was still creepy. And their eyes, or rather Orihara-san's eyes and Heiwajima-san's sunglasses, shimmered as if they were reflecting the light.

Belatedly, Mikado realized that he still had to turn on the computer and find out what Soldier wanted now. Did he mention how much he hated Soldier? Because he did, he really did.

He turned on the computer and waited for it to boot up, tapping his foot impatiently. He was tired of not knowing what was going on! Finally the computer was operational and Mikado logged in. There were several programs on the desktop, but he was only interested in the email icon. He opened it to see one unread message.

_ Hello Mikado-sama!_

_Soldier here! If you need to contact me, use this email, ok? I know you must have a bunch of questions. I will try to answer the most obvious ones (to me at least)! Send an email if you have a question that I haven't answered. Here we go!_

_ You are in Ikebukaro for a reason I can't tell you. But that's not what you wanted know is it? You want to know about the cards. Well sit back and be prepared._

_ Those cards are special. They contain a part of each of those people's souls and the people are known as Conscripts. You are their Commander, but don't tell anyone that!_

_Yeah, their souls. Since the cards were made for you and only you, all four people will feel the urge to protect you. _

_(Not that you need it! Just as a heads up, please don't make any enemies. They couldn't take it. You can be pretty scary and twisted when the mood strikes you! But you wouldn't know that yet, would you.)_

_Anyway, the cards have three forms. The first is the one you found in the warehouse. They don't do anything at that point. But once you learn their names, the cards will change. You now can use the cards to call them to you. They will feel the urge to wander near bye and bam! Stage three. Stage three starts when you first meet them. This will make them want to keep you safe and keep you happy. Good luck dealing with them! Each one owes you a debt, even if they have forgotten or just don't realize it, they do. That's what made the cards possible. They won't work for anybody else._

_That's a lot to take in, so just hang on for a bit more, Mikado-sama! You are enrolled into Raira Academy; the uniform is in the closet. Directions are on top of the counter. Everything there is taken care of for your entrance and you start in two days. _

_Advice: Don't go walking outside alone, not until you find at least one of the Conscripts. Don't mess with the gangs, especially the Yellow Scarves. Don't antagonize either Heiwajima-san or Orihara-san until the cards kick in. It might take two or three meetings depending on how you met and for how long. Carry the pen and at least one phone with you at all times. Don't ever take off the necklace. You can unhook the chain now, it should be used later. Now go get some rest!_

_~Soldier_

Mikado honestly had no words for this situation. He was holding four people's souls in his hand and as soon as he met them, they would never leave him alone. So quite obviously the only option left for him to take was to never leave this apartment. EVER. Or her could just go back to where he came from. Which was…

"I don't know where I used to live. I don't remember anything except for my name." Mikado whispered to himself. He knew some stuff, like how to cook or school stuff, but any personal information was gone. It was like somebody had just deleted all of his personal memories with the exception of his name. Processing this information Mikado decided to do the only two logical things to do. First, he blamed Soldier, and then he passed out, falling off the chair and hitting his head against the desk edge.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Izaya looked up. He had to be…. somewhere. Something was calling to him.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Shizuo stood. He needed to move. Something had to be taken care of.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Masaomi jumped up. He was being called and so he had to go.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Aoba shivered. He had to go, right now! He needed to get to someone's side.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Soldier was pissed. Mikado-sama fainted and all of his Conscripts were moving in his general direction. From the looks of it, Orihara and Heiwajima were the fastest but Kida and Kuronuma weren't far behind. Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair and picked up his phone. He typed quickly and hit send. Then repeated the action three more times. Hopefully this would ward off the Conscripts until a more natural meeting could occur.


	4. Of Pulls, Concussions, and Races

Soldier then hacked into the cameras around Mikado-sama's building to see if the Conscripts had made it there yet. The texts he sent should keep them busy for a little while. While he knew that they would meet soon, he wanted Mikado to be conscious. But…. maybe he should let one see him. Or all four. The cards didn't shift until Mikado-sama saw the Conscripts, but once the Conscripts saw Mikado-sama they would want to protect him. Which was a good thing. And if they fought, well, it wasn't a bad thing. It could be entertaining. But he was digressing. Back to the point. Bad things happened if Mikado-sama got hurt or angry. Come to think of it, he didn't know if they managed to find the last person who annoyed Mikado-sama but Soldier couldn't bring himself to care too much. The idiot deserved it.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Izaya was curious. He had this feeling that he had to be somewhere and it just wouldn't go away. Not that he minded, he was getting bored doing his work. Namie-chan was mean! But then he felt his cell phone vibrate.

_Hello! Just wanted to let you know that Shizuo is in the area! ;)_

Now wasn't this interesting! An unknown person had his number and told him that Shizu-chan was in the area.

"I guess I should go play then!" With that, he skipped off to try to find Shizu-chan, the strange feeling forgotten. He should hear him any minute now.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Shizuo was utterly confused. He just needed to keep moving for some reason. In a specific direction. It was really weird but he couldn't help himself. It felt like someone needed his help. His musings were cut off by the sound of his phone.

_Hey! Just for the record, Izaya is in the area. Most likely coming for you. _

All thoughts stopped. The Flea was in Ikebukaro, even though Shizuo told him to get out and stay out.

'IZAYAAAAAAAAA-KUN!"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Ah, there it is! Izaya was happy.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Masaomi had never felt like this before. He had this need to get to a place. He was running with no conscious reason why. Something or someone was calling to him and he was determined to answer. In the middle of tying his yellow scarf around his neck (he might need the intimidation factor to ensure he wasn't bothered on his way over) his phone beeped and he had to check it.

_Yo! Blue Squares have been sighted in the area along with Orihara! _

"What the heck!" Masaomi was upset. He ignored his questions about the text and started running again. Even though he had left the Yellow Scarves, the Blue Squares were his enemies. And if Orihara was involved… He had to find the person who needed his help fast before it was too late. He had sworn to never be late again.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Aoba was shaking. Someone was in trouble and he needed to help. Which was a strange feeling since he had no idea who needed his help and he just generally didn't help people. But he would make an exception. Pausing for a moment, he felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out.

_Heeya! Yellow Scarves are around the area. Watch out! :P_

Now this was interesting. Maybe he should call for some backup. Those idiots might be causing the distress he was feeling. He could help the person that was calling out to him and get rid of some Yellow Scarves! Yay multi-tasking!

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Mikado groaned as he woke up. His head was hurting for the second time in a day. What in the world had happened? Then it hit him. He had no clue who he was and he was all alone. This was scary and frightening and… just a little bit exciting. But then his phone buzzed and when Mikado saw the text was from Soldier, he wanted to break it. But he didn't.

_Mikado-sama,_

_I just wanted to let you know that your Conscripts are in the area. They felt you pass out and rushed to the rescue! Don't worry, I'm running interference and they shouldn't bother you. But be careful. Its dangerous out tonight._

_~Soldier_

This was bothersome. Mikado had just been put on a version of house arrest because the people who's souls he held and who needed to protect him were wandering around. It didn't make sense. Wouldn't he be safer? His Conscripts should be able to keep him safe, especially after what Karisawa-san said about Heiwajima-san and Orihara-san. But then again, he wasn't in a hurry to get the cards to the last stage. Idly he wondered, what if he met the other two before learning their names? Would he have to wait until then or would it just skip the second step all together? While pondering, he stood up and wandered over to the window, ignoring his aching head. But as soon as he made it to the window, the whole room tilted.

"Probably not a good idea to stand. I think I have a concussion." Then he collapsed for the second time.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Kida ducked behind a trashcan in an alley. He was trying, and succeeding, to hide from the Blue Square members that were infesting the area. He still felt the pull and was following it in a rather roundabout manor, dodging the members who were wandering around. The pull was getting stronger.

"What the hell is going on?" he quietly asked himself. "Why is this happening?" All of a sudden, the pull sharpened and almost became a physical hurt. Something bad was happening and he needed to go _now._ He got up and bolted west, following the pull. After five minutes of sprinting, Kida made it to an apartment building. The building felt _right_ to him in a very strange way. Like he was supposed to be inside right now.

Deciding to err of the side of caution (for once), he crept along the side of the building and ran up the stairs, keeping low the entire time. He stopped outside the door where the pull felt the strongest. Kida had a catch 22 situation. If he went in, he would be breaking and entering the building of a complete stranger on a feeling. If he didn't, he felt that he would be betraying the most sacred thing in the world. Although, now that he thought about it, there was really no choice. He tried to open the door. He was going to help the sources of the pull no matter what.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Hurry up!" Aoba was pissed. His Blue Squares had caught sight of a Yellow Scarves member, but lost sight of him a minute later. They were now combing the area, which he noted was disturbingly close to the source of the pull. Maybe the Yellow Scarves member knew- He cut off that thought. There was _no_ way the Yellow Scarves member made it past the perimeter he set up around the apartment buildings. He had set it up when the pull intensified, but chose not to go in himself. He didn't know what it was and wasn't going to take the chance even though his gut said he'd be fine. But then, where was the guy headed?

"Kuronuma-sama!" yelled one of the Blue Square perimeter guards. "The Yellow Scarves guy just snuck into one of the apartments!"

'What!" Aoba was furious. This… _person _would have to be dealt with. He didn't want them coming in contact with whoever was causing the pull. He, Kuronuma Aoba would be the person to take care of the source of the pull. _No one else_.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Izaya had been fighting with Shizu-chan for about three minutes when the pull increased, causing him to falter. Luckily, Shizu-chan did the same so the vending machine missed Izaya. But why would Shizu-chan stumble at the exact same time as the pull yanked? The only answer that he could come up with that made sense was one that Izaya didn't like at all. Shizu-chan could feel the pull too. Why in the world would the only human he didn't love feel the same thing he did? Izaya didn't want to share the feeling with him. Not at all. So he ran towards the pull, quietly swearing to himself that he would get there before Shizu-chan and steal the pull away. And hide it from the world.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Shizuo had been in mid throw, using a handy vending machine, aimed at the flea when the strange pull he had been feeling before the flea interrupted strengthened. So who could blame him for stumbling and missing the flea? But if he hadn't tripped a little bit, he would have hit the flea too! That stupid flea had hesitated at the same time. But he only did because of the pull. So then the flea could feel the pull too? He didn't like having to share the pull with the flea. It was a special feeling, like he was needed, and Shizuo didn't want the flea to have any part in it. So when the flea ran toward the source of the pull, Shizuo followed him, pledging that he would save the pull from the terror and annoyance that was the flea.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Soldier was _pissed_. Mikado-sama most likely had a concussion and all four of the Conscripts were headed over. One of them, Kida, was already by the building. The other three were not far behind. But really, this totally went against his whole game plan. Why did the world hate him? Oh yeah, apparently he 'manipulated and messed with people's heads and was therefore condemned to a life where his plans got messed up'. Joy. Utter Joy. Well, at least he got to watch the four Conscripts fight over Mikado-sama now. But with the way his life was going now, it would just be his luck that only Kida made it in.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Kida had run into the slight problem of the door being locked. That made it rather hard to get inside of the apartment and save the source of the pull. Sighing, he realized that he had to improvise. He would either have to sneak in through the window or break down the door. And since the window was most likely locked, he chose to attack the door. It only withstood two kicks before opening on the third. Finally he was going to find out what was causing the pull!

Once again, Kida decided that caution was a good idea. So he crouched down and snuck along side the walls, going through the entryway and past the kitchen to the only door that was open. He poked his head around the door and gaped. There was a boy, around his age, collapsed on the floor. And the pull was pulling him right towards the boy.

He crept forward silently, staring all the while. The boy had black hair and fine features. He looked delicate in a way that made him want to cuddle him up and hide him from the world. Make it so that nothing would ever hurt him or make him sad. The urge should have been raising red flags, but for some reason, it felt completely natural and utterly _right_.


	5. Of Kidnappings, Mistakes, and Idiots

Kida stopped next to the black haired boy and gently ran his hand across the boy's forehead. He looked so _pretty_ with the light shining on him. Kida frowned however, when he noticed the faint look of pain on the boy's face. For that matter, why was he lying on the floor? Was he asleep or unconscious?

"Wait a minute. The pull is coming from this kid? But…" Kida trailed off, realizing that whoever this kid was, he was unconscious. And probably hurt. For some reason, just thinking of this boy being hurt made Kida's chest ache. He had to help him! He needed to get the kid some medical attention or get him to a hospital. But how to safely remove this kid without being seen by the Blue Squares? Kida sighed.

"This will not be easy." He muttered to himself as he picked up the kid. "Why are you so light?" He quickly maneuvered the kid so he could carry him in a piggyback. The only other option was a bridal style carry and he couldn't run efficiently like that. And he had to move the kid now, there was no telling how long he had been unconscious, though Kida would wager that it was when the pull had strengthen so violently. If that was the case then the black-haired boy had been out for ten or so minutes. That was bad, _really bad_. He had to get the kid to a hospital now!

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Aoba was furious. His stupid Blue Squares had let the Yellow Scarves' member get into the apartment building where the pull was! While Aoba didn't go inside himself, he had a good reason not to. Two of them, actually. One, he had no clue why he was drawn to the building and wanted to be careful. And he had to protect the pull's source from the Yellow Scarves' member in the area. He knew how viscous those people could be and would take no chances. Or rather, would have taken no chances, if it wasn't for his stupid Blue Scarves!

"Hurry up!" He called back to the four guys following him as he raced toward the pull which was now moving. If he calculated right, if they ran around this corner and took the second alleyway, they would intersect with the pull. It almost was scary how he could pinpoint the location of the pull like that. But it wasn't really, anything that helped him find the source of the pull was a good thing. Even if others would think it creepy.

"There! Get him!" Aoba pointed out the teen wearing a yellow bandana. After setting his Blue Squares on the guy, he noticed that the Yellow Scarves' member was carrying someone on his back. As soon as Aoba set eyes on him, he knew. That boy with black hair was the source of the pull. And it _burned_ to know that the Yellow Scarves' member was the one who was holding him and helping him. It should be Aoba helping him, not that worthless blonde teen! He would deal with this interloper himself.

"Get the boy on his back. Take him to the nearest hospital and call me when you know his condition." Aoba's voice was ice incarnate. His subordinates obeyed without a single question. One grabbed the blonde teen and tripped him. Before Aoba could yell at the idiot for possibly hurting the unconscious boy, the blonde twisted so he landed first. Unfortunately for the blonde, falling like that allowed the thugs to steal the black-haired boy from him. They then scurried away to follow their leader's orders. They wanted to keep their heads after all.

Aoba smirked This was his win. It was his men taking care of the pull and he was going to _take care_ of the insolent blonde. Who was now standing up and glaring murderously at him. The two met in a clash of fist to forearm and the situation degraded from there.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Soldier smirked. Here was the fighting he wanted! Take that Karma!

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Izaya was running so fast he almost missed it. The pull, however, alerted him to what he would have missed otherwise. Directly to the left of him was a group of men, Blue Square members he noted absently, running in a rather strange fashion. While that in it of itself was not that important, the fact that they were carrying a young man, a boy really, which black hair was. As soon as Izaya laid eyes upon the kid, he knew that that boy was the source of the pull. And he was injured and being carried by a bunch of gang members to who knows where. The first, and most logical, conclusion that his mind reached was that the Blue Square members had hurt the boy and were taking him away. That was unacceptable. So Izaya set out to make the situation right. Namely, dealing with the idiots and getting the black haired boy to a safe place where Izaya could take care of him and figure out what the hell was going on. Unfortunately, he was not the only one with that idea.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Shizuo was pissed. The flea was running toward the source of the pull, and while Shizuo didn't doubt his ability to save the pull from the flea, it would be easier if he got there first. Wherever there was. But then he saw a bunch of Blue Square members running with a black haired boy on one of their backs. And the pull came from the boy. Don't ask him how he knew it, but has soon as Shizuo saw the kid, he had to save him. After all the kid was hurt and he was being carried around by gang members! What else would explain that! An added incentive was the fact that the flew had changed his course, running right towards the boy. That confirmed Shizuo's doubts; the flea could feel the pull. But right now that didn't matter. He had a bunch of thugs to dispose off.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Solider was a happy camper. First, Kida and Aoba were fighting. They seemed evenly matched, but watching two boys attack one another got boring after the first few minutes. But now, the other two conscripts were attacking more people!

"Huh. You would think that two people who hated each other would work less well together. Go figure." He watched the screen intently, laughing at the idiots who couldn't handle the combined wrath of the Heiwajima and Orihara. Now things were getting interesting! He couldn't wait to see what would happen after they finished 'rescuing' Mikado-sama.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Izaya smiled as he finished taking care of the gang members who dared to try to challenge him. Now, all he had to do was take care Shizu-chan and then he could get the kid to Shinra! After all, he could trust Shinra and he had no guaranty of any of the hospital workers loyalty. Some of them might try to be clever and hurt the kid more. Some of his lovable humans were so _stupid_ sometimes and he really couldn't take a chance with this kid. He was precious for some reason and Izaya really didn't care why. He did what he wanted to and if he wanted to protect this lovely human, he would. After all, it would make a nice change of pace to protect someone instead of ruin them! But first, he had to take down Shizu-chan.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Shizuo threw the last of the idiots away from the boy, but before he could pick him up, he had to dodge the flea!

"What the hell! Izaya get the hell out of here!" He charged the infuriation man, and in his rage, forgot about why they started fighting in the first place. He ran after the smirking devil, determined to wipe that look off of his face with the stop sign that just happened to be around.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Once again, Soldier was happy. Orihara and Heiwajima were fighting again! But even better, they were fighting one another. He watched avidly as Heiwajima picked up another vending machine and threw it at the informant who just smiled and ran out of the way. Orihara threw a couple of knives back at Heiwajima who dodged them and threw a Yield sign in retaliation. But then Soldier's smile fell. In the midst of their battle, Mikado-sama was still out cold on the road! Those idiots seemed to have forgotten the reason they were fighting! Now that made Soldier mad. If they didn't snap out of it in two minutes, he was going to have to _do_ something. After all, it was Mikado-sama's health at stake!

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Celty was tired. She had just finished a drop off and was on her way home when she saw the familiar sight of a vending machine go flying through the air. Shizuo and Izaya were fighting again. She sighed and get ready to dodge. The fasted way home was right through the area where the two were fighting and they were never careful in their fights.

Celty revved her motorcycle, or horse depending on how you wanted to think about it, and started off. She had almost made it past the scene of the fight, (One of their most impressive, she noted absently), when she saw the teen. There was a black haired boy who looked to be about the same age as Anri-chan and he was unconscious. And bleeding from his head. Which was bad, really really bad!

Without a moment to spare, Celty raced forward and gently picked up the boy. He must have been caught in the crossfire of Shizuo and Izaya's fight! And the idiots, she thought with a glare in their direction, didn't even notice!

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Shizuo shivered. Izaya winced. Soldier laughed.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Huffing in disappointment and promising retribution, Celty gently got the boy comfortable on her bike. She had arranged it so that the boy was leaning up against her with his head on her shoulder. That way, she could make sure the boy was safe and didn't fall off the bike. But then she paused.

Where would she take the boy? She couldn't go to a hospital, they scared her and probably would thing that she hurt him. But she couldn't just leave him on the cold ground! Then she smacked her helmet. What was she thinking! She could just take the boy back to Shinra! It was both her destination and most likely the best place for the poor kid. Shinra wouldn't ask too many questions and she had to admit, the kid reminded her of Anri-chan and she couldn't help but want to take care of him. Anri-chan and now this black haired boy just made her want to coo!

Nodding to herself, Celty took off into the night, taking the boy she found with her.


	6. Of Stealing, Scoldings, and Phone Calls

Soldier couldn't stop laughing. The Black Rider had just _stolen Mikado-sama_ and the Conscripts didn't even notice. He was happy that Mikado-sama was finally going to get medical attention, but the fact that all four messed up was worrisome. They were supposed to be the strongest in the town, and yet they couldn't even get one job done, he thought with a frown.

They had let their personal issues come between them and as a result, Mikado-sama had to be taken care of by the Black Rider. They pretty much forgot about Mikado-sama! _Forgot him_ in their rush to attack one another.

Although, he mused, they were their own worst enemies. Mikado-sama might get hurt again due to their fighting. Maybe, another Conscript would be necessary. One that didn't have an arch rival that would distract them from Mikado-sama. But who in the world was strong enough? And he had to be able to make them a Conscript or their strength wouldn't even matter. That last one disqualified a whole bunch of people. It wasn't exactly an easy process and if you didn't pass, you just ended up a mindless drone. Which wouldn't be useful at all to Mikado-sama. He needed Conscripts that could think. He could sacrifice strength for compatibility and the ability to remember Mikado-sama in a battle. But who?

"I guess its time to call in the rest." Soldier sighed and picked up his phone. He had some people to call.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Aoba was breathing heavily. This infuriating blonde was good. Good enough to make Aoba re-asses his chance of winning. But he wouldn't give up. He had to fight and win so he could claim the boy for his own. He would be the one to take care of him and…. Aoba was jealous, he realized. And feeling guilty. The blonde had gotten to the boy first and was taking him to a hospital, while Aoba refused to go and check on the pull. He had just left him there! But, he rationalized to himself, once he beat the blonde, he would go check up on the boy and never leave his side again. Ever.

Nodding to himself, Aoba reached for the place where the pull tugged at him only to find it gone. He could no longer feel the pull. He could hear somebody yelling at him through the confusion.

"What have you done!" The blonde was screaming. "What have your goons done?" Aoba just started at the blonde, as if he had gone crazy. But then he realized what the blonde was talking about and it made his blood run cold. The pull was gone. And he had sent the boy with his Blue Squares, who were not the smartest people. _The pull was gone!_

"No!" He gasped out. Aoba took off running in the direction he had sent his Blue Squares. He couldn't feel the pull that connected him to the boy. The boy was already unconscious so that meant that the boy had woken up or he…. was gone. The mere thought of the boy no longer existing made his heart feel as if it was being torn to shreds.

"No, no, no, no, no." Aoba turned his head to see the blonde Yellow Scarves member keeping pace with him, mumbling and praying. He realized that he wasn't the only one freaking out. The blonde looked nearly as worried and frantic as Aoba felt. For that, Aoba decided that maybe, he wouldn't hate the blonde so much. Maybe.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Shizuo let out another roar as he tossed the nth sign at Izaya's laughing form who just ducked under it and retaliated with a few knives. Shizuo almost laughed. Didn't the flea know that those little things would do no harm to him? After all, they've been fighting all these years and the flea hasn't been able to kill him. But then again, he thought with a snarl, he hasn't been able to kill the flea either.

"IZAYAAAAAAAA!" He threw another vending machine at the annoyance, but missed again. This was starting to get annoying. He didn't have time for this! He had something that he was supposed to be doing and the flea was distracting him from that mission. But before Shizuo could launch another missile (Vending machine, street sign or stop sign… decisions, decisions) two boys ran right out of the alleyway before him.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Izaya stopped running to look back at Shizu-chan. He wasn't yelling anymore or chasing him! It wasn't fair! But when Izaya looked back to see why Shizu-chan had stopped he saw them. Aoba-kun and Kida-kun! Why were they here?

"Ne, Aoba-kun! Why are you interrupting my time with Shizu-chan?" He asked with a pout.

"Have you seen Blue Square members carrying an unconscious black-haired boy?" Aoba asked. Izaya could tell how he wished he didn't have to, didn't have to ask or give away that the boy was important to him. Wait. The boy. He whipped around to check the doorway where he and Shizu-chan had left him, but he wasn't there! The boy was gone. _Gone._ _And Izaya couldn't feel the pull._

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Kida was terrified. He had been fighting with the Blue Squares leader, who was pretty good but Kida knew that he would have won, when the pull disappeared. And since the last time he had seen the boy, he was being carried away by a bunch of gang members he _knew_ to be viscous. And now, those same people were in a heap in front of Heiwajima Shizuo and Orihara Izaya. But the boy was gone.

"Where is the kid?" Kida knew that letting Izaya know how much the kid mattered to him was dangerous, but he had to know. He knew that the Blue Square leader had just asked pretty much the same question but he didn't care. He was worried! But…. As he looked at Izaya's and Heiwajima-san's faces, he noticed that they had similar looks. Like his and the Blue Squares guy's expressions. Like they were worried. But that would mean that they could feel the pull too.

"Will you help us find him?" Once again, Kida couldn't believe that he was saying that to Izaya and Heiwajima-san. Especially Izaya. But the boy was missing and hurt. He came first so Kida would just suck it up.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Celty had just pulled away from the two fighting idiots when a strange warmth surged up around the boy in front of her. And before her very eyes (or smoke if you want to be literal) four points of light appeared. They shimmered, one blue, one red, one yellow and one white. After shining and blinking (the showoffs) the lights died down to reveal four cards that slipped into the boy's front pocket.

'What the hell was that?' Celty thought to herself. This day was just getting weirder and weirder. 'I wonder what those lights were?' But before she could try to figure out what the cards were and why they appeared, she had an injured boy to take to Shinra. After all, who knew how long he had been unconscious!

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Soldier sighed as he finished his calls. Those people were so annoying! And they had the nerve to call him weird. Him! Weird! They were the weird ones. But at least the strange people had a couple of prospective Conscripts. He could have done it himself, but they were faster and he… well he was lazy. And having too much fun watching Mikado-sama's Conscripts freak out.

"Speaking of Mikado-sama's Conscripts." Soldier muttered to himself as he reached for his phone. "Its time to let them off the hook. They might actually go crazy from worry if I don't help them out."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The four men (and teens, but lets just stick with men for simplicities sake) stared at one another. Each thought that they alone had a special connection with the mysterious black-haired boy, whose name none of them knew. But then they find out that three other men, their arch-nemesis or rivals or any other term like those, shared that connection. Just in time for the boy to disappear due to the infighting. So each was feeling guilty and rather stupid. After all the boy couldn't have gotten up himself and walked away!

_Bzzzt! Bzzzt!_ Izaya's cell phone vibrated, the only noise in the silence. He reached for it, never taking his eyes off of the three others, as if they were wild animals.

"Hello?" He spoke quietly, his vaguely mocking sing-song tone missing from his voice.

"Heeya!" A strangely cheerful voice answered back. "Nice ta meet ya!"

Izaya stared at the phone in disbelief. Who was this person?

"Hey, put me on speaker, k? I got something to tell you guys!" Izaya did so, still rather confused.

"So! My name is Soldier and no offense, but you all suck at being Conscripts. And since you all most likely have no idea what I'm talking about, I'll be kind and tell you. You all are Conscripts." The voice just stopped after that.

"You're kidding." Kida said. "That tells us absolutely nothing."

"Well its not my fault if you guys don't remember the deal you guys made! Although," The voice, Soldier, trailed off. "Hey, Question. Was Mikado-sama awake at all when he was with any of you?"

"Who? Do you mean the black-haired boy?" Izaya asked, leaning into the phone as if it held all the secrets to the universe. Or rather, all the answers.

"Geez, you guys fail. SO MUCH! Not even know Mikado-sama's name. Why on earth did I let them talk me into this! And answer the question!"

Aoba quickly answered before Shizuo decided to crush the phone. "No, Mikado, was it, was not awake."

"How dare you." The venom in Soldier's voice was chilling. "How dare you address Mikado-sama so informally when you left him bleeding and unconscious in a building. How dare you say his name when you left him lying on the side of a road. You have all failed in the single most important mission and yet you have the guts to say his name."

All four men were stunned. The happy-go-lucky voice had just turned murderous and the change was rather unnerving. But as quickly as the change happened, Soldier reverted back.

"Sorry 'bout that! Just a little annoyed at some things. Anyway, that explains why none of you can sense him now and why you guys are just standing there. The bonds are still at levels one and two."

The only thing that Shizuo picked up on was the sense part. "Explain, why can we no longer sense the kid." He demanded, worry and guild making his voice short.

"Well, all four of you are his Conscripts. Which means that you guys have the honor of protecting him. So you need to know how to get to him, no? The sense lets you know where he is when Mikado-sama is hurt or upset. Or angry."

"Protect him? Do we have a choice?" inquired Aoba.

"Do you not want to protect him?" Soldier asked earnestly. "Cuz if you don't just tell me now and I'll take care of it. Say the word and you won't be Mikado-sama's Conscripts. He deserves Conscripts who want to protect him, not people who are forced to." Solder conveniently left out that now the bond was active, at least their half of the bond, they would all want to protect Mikado-sama whether they were originally forced to or not.

All four men looked at each other, before Kida answered. "No, I at least want to keep him safe and happy." The other three agreed.

Finally, Izaya asked the question that they all had been waiting for. "Excuse me Soldier-san," And here he was trying to be respectful because this person knew where Mikado was and Izaya still wanted to steal him away. But first he needed to know where he was. "But what exactly is a Conscript?"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Heheh, Please don't kill me?


	7. Of Doctors, Sneakings, and Slipups

" You want to know what a Conscript is?" Soldier asked. The four men nodded, but then realized that Soldier couldn't see them.

"No. I won't tell you." was his response. The four were shocked for two reasons. One, how could Soldier see them? They hadn't answered verbally, and yet he knew they nodded. And the second reason was because Soldier just said no.

"Wait. You can't accuse us of being bad Conscripts, if we don't even know what that means!" Kida shouted. He could really hate Soldier, a sentiment that the other three shared wholeheartedly.

"Yes" Aoba added, still a little wary of the voice. "How do you expect us to do a good job if you will not inform us of what we have to do?" Even as he was speaking, Aoba wished that he could me instead of us. Mikado only… sorry, Mikado-sama only needed him! Orihara was unstable, Heiwajima was dangerous and the blonde was incompetent. He was the only one that was qualified to take care of Mikado-sama!

"Well," Soldier's voice interrupted Aoba's thoughts. "I expect that the bond will take care of any important details once Mikado-sama regains consciousness and that the lack of details will drive you guys crazy. So it's a fitting punishment." They could almost hear the shrug that accompanied that statement.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Soldier wished he had a camera. The expressions on the four guys faces were priceless!

"Damn. I'm an idiot." He told himself as he quickly took a screen shot off of the laptop he was using to watch the four. He quickly sent the picture to his phone, his three different email accounts and then to all of the four's phones. Just to see what happened. But then he paused.

"Listen. I know you guys are confused and feeling horrible. But Mikado-sama will ok hopefully and if you promise to never ever forget about him again, I'll tell you where he will be in two days."

Silence met his ears as he waited with baited breath. This was the test. Would the four of them still be willing to meet Mikado-sama, knowing that they messed up? That they failed? That they hurt him? He would have said more, but they answered. Darn. No one let him be poetic and deep anymore.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Izaya gave a short laugh.

"Of course I will never forget him. I can't speak for the rest of the… people," and here he gave a derisive sneer in their general direction before speaking again, "But I will never, ever let Mikado-sama go again." He will be mine alone, Izaya added mentally. He had a feeling the other four wouldn't respond well to that part of his statement. Speaking of his alone, he had a rather nice apartment that was 'off the grid' so to speak. He could use that to keep his interesting new friend in, so they wouldn't be disturbed.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Like I'll let the damn flea anywhere near the kid. I won't leave him." Shizuo's response was short and to the point, just like he was. He wanted to protect that kid, and so he would. Especially from that flea, who had a really, and I mean really, suspicious look on his face. So once he noticed that , he switched to glaring at the idiot flea who thought he could just waltz in to Ikebukuro and mess with one of the few people Shizuo cared about. Mental note to self: Beat up flea for being annoying and presumptuous.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Masaomi spared only a single glance at the two fuming men before replying.

"I will always be by Mikado-sama's side. Nothing you can do will make me leave him behind. Got it!" He swore to himself that he would never let Mikado-sama get taken from him ever again. It was the worst feeling in the world; knowing that you failed to help somebody in need just because of a stupid argument with a even stupider kid. He felt a connection with the kid, and nothing, not even the two most dangerous men in Ikebukoro would stop him! After all, he was the former Yellow Scarves shogun.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Nothing will come between Mikado-sama and myself." Aoba declared. He was the only one who would take care of Mikado-sama the way that he deserved. He had a whole gang, nearly 1/5 of the population, under his control and with that, he could take care of Mikado-sama. The other men would just have to be content with mere moments of Mikado-sama's time, if even those. Even though he had just seen the teen for a couple of moments, he knew that the teen was too good for the other imbeciles that he was currently standing with. Aoba could only hope his IQ didn't drop from the encounter and subsequent prolonged exposure.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Soldier grinned. He could tell that each of the four, with the possible exception of Masaomi who seemed to just want Mikado-sama to be happy and safe, had either an ulterior motive or a secondary statement in their promises. But he did say he would tell them and they were rather dangerous, so…

"Mikado-sama, assuming all goes well and he is recovered enough, will be at Raira Academy in two days. He's a new student and starts on Wednesday. Of course, this is all depenedent on him being healthy, but I'm sure that…. the doctor will take care of him."

Exhaling sharply, Soldier wiped his forehead. He almost gave away Mikado-sama's position! How could he! Clearly, he wasn't thinking straight and so, would have to cut the entertaining conversation short. He might give away crucial information!

"Well then, goodbye!"

And with that, he hung up. But before he shut his laptop down and left to get some well-needed rest, he made sure to take pictures of the faces the four were making. They were so amusing! He ended up laughing all the way to his room, scaring several of the people who had the misfortune to walk by him. Ah well, they should have known better by now.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

It was around the time when Soldier hung up that Celty and Mikado ended up at the apartment that Celty shared with Shinra. Mikado was still unconscious but his head wound had stopped bleeding. Celty parked her motorcycle and patted the handles reassuringly as it neighed.

'Don't worry. He'll be alright now.' she thought at her trusty horse. 'And speaking, well, thinking of the boy, here we go!'

She picked the child up and, making sure to cradle his head to her shoulder, carried him up to Shinra. She rapped on the door and waited impatiently for him to open up. The child was hurt and Shinra was taking forever. She vowed that she would hit him for taking his time, then paused. Why was she so invested in this child? She hadn't even met him while he was awake and she was already concerned about him. Enougth to pick up a random stranger and take him back to Shinra and her home.

'H-home! I just thought of this place as Shinra and mine's!' Meanwhile, during her internal freak out, Shinra had gotten to the door and was staring at her worridly.

"Celty? Are you ok my darling? Why are you holding a child?" Then he paused and his face lit up. "Could it be that you want to start a family with me and already have chosen out children? I assume that you want to adopt Anri too, but you knew I wanted a son, didn't you! I have such a caring wife!" By the time his mini-rant was finished, Celty had come back from her lala land trip and was staring in disbelief. What was Shinra talking about? So she did the only logical thing to do. She shifted the child to one arm and socked Shinra in the gut with the other. He collapsed with a huff as his breath escaped him.

"But Celty darling! Why would you do that?" he asked as he sat up, holding his stomach in an attempt to get the pain to fade. He knew it wouldn't help, from both a medical stand point and experience, but it was something to do and it might get him a consolatory hug later. His Celty was such a tsundere! But a movement observed from the corner of his eye distracted him.

"Ah. Celty? Why have you brought an unconscious boy into our house? If you don't want to adopt him or anything like that." He said, looking at her with questioning look in his eyes.

She held out her phone and he read the message with a raised eyebrow. 'Shizuo and Izaya were fighting and the boy got caught in the crossfire. They just left him there unconscious and I picked him up. So will you take a look at him?'

"Of course I will! If Celty wants me to check him out, then check him out I will!" And with that, he picked the boy up and started to examine him.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Izaya left the three others behind as he moved towards his apartment. He was feeling strange and knew he had to think about what he was going to do next. After all, you didn't think he became the most feared informant by just fooling around did you? Well, he did have a natural talent for screwing people over and manipulating them, but he still had to work. Not to mention, he had caught Soldier's small slip up. It was his only clue to the boy that had just become his newest obsession.

(He refused to even consider that fact that he might care about the boy. This Conscript thing surly couldn't force feelings to magically appear. That was just stupid. It was just a passing fancy in a very interesting boy and his circumstances. Plus, he was going to make that kid his representative for all of humanity. As in, since he loved humans, he should be at least nice to one, right?) *This failed to take into account the fact that Izaya's idea of being nice was keeping Mikado locked up in some untraceable apartment, away from the world. Forgive him, he really has no clue about how to treat a precious person that's not related to him.*

Soldier had mentioned a doctor. Now he knew that being a doctor was a rather common profession, what with how many accidents his beloved humans got into, his hand in them ignored, but he had a feeling he knew exactly which doctor Soldier was talking about. There was only one underground proficient doctor in all of Ikebukoro. But now he had to figure out Soldier was watching him, disable it in some way, shape or form, and get to the kid. Just to check in, he knew the kid was hurt, but he wanted to know more. And to see him again, but he managed to hide that thought in with his plans. He never lied to himself after all, but that was a form of passive ignoring.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Celty! Celty darling, I have good news, slightly bad news and iffy news. Which would you like first?"

Celty gave her version of an incredulous look, which consisted of a tilted shoulder and a PDA that held a question mark on it. But once she processed his words, she wrote, 'bad, iffy, good' and held it out at Shinra.

"Got it!" The man in question sighed as he mentally prepared his diagnosis for presenting. "So the kid, whose name I have not been told, has a slight concussion. He should be fine in a day or so. The iffy news is that I don't know how much longer he will sleep and the good news is that he will make a full recovery!"

'In how long?'

"Well, he will have headaches due to his concussion for about a week, but he should be fine after that. He could wake up at any time, since he is now asleep and not unconscious." He gave her all of the possible answers to her rather ambiguous question. But while he was running through all the possible meanings of that demand/questions, Celty moved passed him to the room where the kid was sleeping in.

But when she got to the door, she was met with the sight of an awake, but not fully cognizant and not fully aware, teen who was sitting up in bed, staring out the window.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

I am so sorry for the late update. I had a really busy summer in that I have not been allowed Computer access for a large portion of it. Add in stress from school, and its not a very good writing environment. But I had time and found this open on one of my Spaces and got inspired.

Oh yeah, one last thing. I have a poll up about an important plot line. It would be nice to have some feed back.

Reviews are awesome, but I really love story alerts/favorites. Its an easy way to show you care. Thanks for reading!

- Wolferunner123


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